Army quarterback Trent Steelman runs off the field during a 17-13 loss to Navy. / Danny Wild, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

During the week running up to this year's Army-Navy game, players from both sides spoke of the desire to "sing second." The two service academies sing each other's alma mater after every game, but with a twist: the loser sings first, after which point the winning team sprints to its side to sing, yell, scream and celebrate with its fellow students, alumni and fans.

Another Navy win, a nail-biting, back-and-forth 17-13 victory in Philadelphia, meant that for the 11th year in a row Army was going to sing first. As the team walked toward its band, cameras hovered around Army quarterback Trent Steelman, who was unable to control his emotions while singing his alma mater.

An image of Steelman in tears, heartbroken over yet another loss to the Midshipmen, will be one of the lasting memories from the 2012 college football season.

This loss was worst than most for Army, which last beat Navy in 2001 â?? one year before Navy hired then-Georgia Southern coach Paul Johnson, who was replaced by Ken Niumatalolo in 2007. The Cadets led 13-10 in the fourth quarter before Navy's Keenan Reynolds ran for an 8-yard touchdown with 4:41 left to give the Midshipmen a 17-13 lead.

On the ensuing drive, Steelman led Army to the Navy 14-yard line before turning the ball over during a bobbled handoff to fullback Larry Dixon. The Midshipmen took a knee twice to end the game; Navy (8-4) will play Arizona State in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec. 29.

In all, Army had 26 first downs to Navy's 18, had 418 yards of total offense to Navy's 297 and had 370 yards rushing. The difference was turnovers: Army had three fumbles to Navy's one.

On paper, it's just another loss for Army, which dropped to 2-10 â?? but as anyone familiar with the series knows, this is more than just another game. For Army, Saturday's game provided the team's best chance at beating Navy in more than a decade.

Steelman feels the loss more than most. His resume as Army's quarterback speaks for itself: Steelman was the first true Cadets freshman to start a season opener at quarterback in the modern era; he's the only player to throw and run for more than 2,000 yards; his 16 wins were most by an Army quarterback since Ronnie McAda from 1994 to 1996; and he finished his career ranked in the top five in program history in rushing yards, total yards and rushing touchdowns.

His ties to Army extend beyond his own four-year stint at West Point and the years he'll serve as a member of the armed forces after graduation. His grandfather served in the Air Force during World War II. His uncle served in the Army during the Gulf War.

In short, Steelman is all you'd expect and more from an Army football player. But at that moment, when the realization hit home, all Steelman could remember were four losses to Navy: 17-3 in 2009, 31-17 in 2010, 27-21 in 2011 and 17-13 on Saturday.

As he walked off the field â?? and jubilant Navy celebrated on its side â?? Steelman was hugged by Niumatalolo, who told CBS Sports' Tracy Wolfson right after the game that he was looking for Steelman, and shared words with Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the Chief of Staff of the Army. Inconsolable, Steelman headed off to the locker room.